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Bling, bling: Junior Team wins gold

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Contributed by: angie valencia/valleynews.com on 7/17/2007

Glendale's precision roller-skating team Junior Team In-Sync took a gold medal at the Southwest Pacific Regional Roller Skating Championships held in Fresno last month.

The team is led by choreographer Tammy Gantz Patino and coach David Allen. It is comprised of 17 skaters, 15 years of age and under, who skate a synchronized routine to music.

"It was so much fun observing the team as they announced the placements," Allen said. "The team showed so much emotion. It was the reward for discipline of practice."

The brand new team, which had never competed before, edged out team Clock Work Orange from Orange County and the Northridge team, which took silver and bronze medals, respectively.

"It was very exciting," said Gantz Patino. "They skated against teams that were more experienced."

The four-minute routine was accompanied by a medley of 60s and70s-type music. The team has been together for one year.

With the win, Junior Team In-Sync, from the Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale, qualified for the National Roller Skating Championships in Omaha, Neb., next week. They will compete against seven other teams.

"The competition will be formidable at the national level," Allen added. "My hope is that we have a good skate. The team knows my position with any competition. Don't focus on the placement you want as much as your focus on skating well ... This team could very well place at nationals!"

Teams were judged based on the synchronization of the skaters, difficulty of maneuvers, smoothness of transitions from one maneuver to the next and the overall artistic impression.

Routines must contain certain elements such as straight-line footwork, traveling in a block, pinwheel formations, circles and intersections.

"They're very hard working," Gantz Patino noted. "The most impressive thing is they work like a family. They all care about each other."

The Glendale team is comprised of: Casey Parsons, Valerie Schwade, Ali Stravino, Carly Paronelli, Samantha Rubin, Sharon Kim, Katie Keil, Nicole Calderon, Jessica George, Britney Medlock, Kaylynn Medlock, Isabelle Ursini, Seth Freed, Harrison Hartley, Brian Shin, Earon Guerrero, and Western Nelson. The team's "tiny mascot" is McKenna Keil.

To learn more about Moonlight Rollerway, go to www.moonlightrollerway.com

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